October, 2008

You do not really understand something until you can explain it to your grandmother. - Albert Einstein I've met lots of really smart people that can't explain what they know. I think this really sums it up!

I was asked about the "DUMP" command in MySQL yesterday. It will create a script (in order) of all the database objects and the data they contain. The question was, does SQL Server 2005 have anything like that? Why yes it does! Check out this...

I was watching Nova last night and they talked to Benoit Mandelbrot, the man who codified some of the math that bears his name. This math branch deals with "rough" or repeating surfaces. You probably already know that Transact-SQL can be used...

The new Activity Monitor has another trick up its sleeve: If you open it and then expand the first band of information just below the four graphs, you'll see a list of processes that you can order, sort and filter. If you right-click any process, you...

I was sent this link by a reader: http://www.sqlservervideos.com/series/ Not sure about the content, but I thought I would pass these along. If you review them, let us know what you think.

"You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today." - Abraham Lincoln I have a lot going on right now - I just got back from Brazil, I'm headed to Spain, and then back for PASS here in Seattle. One thing that I have learned when...

This is pretty cool – the first 10 minutes or so of one of the virtual conference I did earlier last month is now available for free online. You can see it here: http://www.vconferenceonline.com/speaker.asp?id=BWoody

Recently someone asked me if they could get the source to SQLH2, the "health" monitoring solution for SQL Server. I told them that I couldn't give out source code, but Microsoft can. I said "make the suggestion on http://connect.microsoft.com and see...

This is to let you know that the SQL Server 2008 Feature Pack for October is now available. What’s in this release? Find more details here : · ADOMD.Net · AMO · DMViewer · PowerShell extensions for SQL Server Replication Management Objects...

So what are you using for an Entity Relationship Diagran (ERD) tool? I'm teaching a class at the University of Washington and we're doing that part of the class now. I normally use Visio, but find it a little less than perfect for this. And some of the...

I have one more presentation today here in Brazil, and then a 24-hour flight to Seattle. Ah, for the ability to sleep on the plane. I've never been able to do it! I have had an amazing time here in Brazil, and the people are the best part. They are so...

I started today at TechEd by chatting with several folks about some issues they were having on planning solutions for their companies. They were lined up at the discussion area and had lots of questions ready! I also spoke with several folks on the improvements...

Microsoft is now including video content along with Books Online for SQL Server. Check them out here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc952928.aspx

I started the day bright and early, meeting with several folks that are interested in growing the DBA role in companies here in Brazil. In all of my interactions with the technical professionals here I hear the same things - that we need to communicate...

Well, after an extremely long flight (24 hours total) I have arrived at TechEd Brazil. What an enthusiastic group of professionals! Yesterday I attended a meeting with the Brazil "MVP"s, or Most Valuable Professionals - and although I don't speak Portugese...

I spoke at the SQL Saturday event in Olympia, Washington, and I noticed that the questions I got were different than those I used to get for SQL Server. In my former life I managed not only SQL Server but other platforms as well. When I would speak to...

It's Friday - time for the quote of the day: "We think in generalities, but we live in detail." - Alfred North Whitehead

Sometimes you want to edit data directly in a table (often a very bad idea!). In Enterprise Manager (SQL2K) and SQL Server Management Studio (SQL2K5) you right-click a table and select "Open Table" from the menu. That brings back ALL of the rows in the...

When I first started at Microsoft, I worked a couple of projects with the SQL Server Security team - and I really enjoyed that group. They are a very smart, fun group of folks to hang around with. Plus, they are really good at math! Anyway, they wrote...

I'll be presenting at lots of conferences soon - SQL Saturday in Olympia Washington, several webcasts, TechEd Brazil and then TechEd Europe in Barcelona. But I'll also be presenting at one of the biggest SQL-Geekfests there is - SQL PASS. I'll be doing...

I mentioned the other day that I'm teaching a college course at the University of Washington, and as part of that we're doing a complete database project from requirements gathering to a completed database with all its objects. The students have done...

We got an e-mail the other day from a DBA who said he didn’t see the need for PowerShell for SQL Server. He thought our time might have been spent better elsewhere. I’ll restate the reply I gave him below, but it brings up an interesting point...

While I was at the SSWUG Virtual Conference prep, I did an interview – a very lengthy, hyper-caffeinated one. Not sure how well I came off in it – gosh, do I really sound (and look!) like that? Youch. There is some useful information in there about...

Wow - out only a couple of months and already the Books are updated! Here you go: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=765433F7-0983-4D7A-B628-0A98145BCB97&displaylang=en